Detachment
by ArtificialRangerLiuria
Summary: Uran fears that Tenma will steal her big brother away from her, and lashes out at Atom because of it.


Atom sat in bed, reading by lamp light. While he wasn't affected by the sleep-preventing heat of the summer that humans often complained about, he wasn't feeling particularly sleepy that night.

Although his bedroom door opened silently, the movement of air prompted him to look up at the figure standing there.

"Uran? What is it?"

The small girl met her brother's gaze with a pout. "Big brother Atom, can I sleep in here with you tonight?"

Atom chuckled, as Uran entered the room and climbed under the covers next to him without prompting. "What? Why?" He asked with a smile.

Uran furrowed her brow in an admirably-human manner (at least, the way Atom saw it). "… I've been having some weird dreams lately."

"Dreams? Like what?"

Uran was silent, scowling at the blanket that she crumpled between her fingers. Atom waited a few seconds before prompting once more. "Uran, what kind of dreams are you having?"

"They're… about you… and… Dr. Tenma."

Atom's smile fell. "Me and… Dr. Tenma?"

She nodded, and turned her face even father from him. "I know how upset you get when I talk about him…"

Atom frowned. "I don't get…" He decided that getting into an argument with his younger sister at 7 o'clock at night wasn't a good idea, so he trailed off. "What kind of dreams are you having about me and… Dr. Tenma?"

Atom could see Uran's expression morph into something downright morose. "I keep seeing… him take you away somewhere, big brother Atom."

He tilted his head. His little sister, having dreams about him and a man to whom she had no relation? What concern was Dr. Tenma to Uran?

"Or, rather," she continued with an edge to her tone. "You agreeing to go somewhere with Dr. Tenma."

"What do you mean?" Atom asked in a slightly accusing tone.

Uran sighed. "You're always _going _somewhere, big brother Atom. You're always saying 'I'm sorry, but I'm leaving', and going off somewhere with Dr. Tenma."

Atom lost the will to keep the venom on his tongue, and stared on with sympathy. "… Is that something you worry about, Uran?"

"I don't know why you love that man so much, big brother Atom!" She suddenly snapped. "Why can't you just forget about him and stay with us, your real family?"

"I'm not going to forget about my father!" Atom yelled back.

"So you're just going to leave with him, is that it?!"

"I never said that!"

Uran fell silent once again, staring back down at the blanket. "Big brother, I'm scared… that you're going to leave us, and go live with that man."

Atom exhaled with waning frustration. "Uran… Dr. Tenma can't go anywhere now. There is nowhere I could go with him."

"But what about when he gets out?"

Atom blinked. "What?"

Uran stared at him earnestly. "What about when he gets out of jail?"

In that moment, it took all of Atom's willpower to control his tear ducts. Closing his eyes and sighing, he looked aside. "Uran, I'm not going anywhere with Dr. Tenma." He explained with a somber smile. "He… isn't getting out of prison."

The child robot tilted her head. "But I thought that after a few years, humans could leave."

"Some humans… but… it depends on the level of their crime."

"Crime?"

"What they did to get into jail. If the crime is minor, then you can be released in a few years, but… what Dr. Tenma did… he can't be allowed back out into society."

Uran stared, finally letting her sympathy seep through her bitterness. "Big brother… are you sad that Dr. Tenma won't get out of jail?"

Atom made brief eye contact before staring into the space in front of him. "I… yeah…" He replied, with an unexpectedly resolute smile.

"It's okay, big brother Atom," Uran said suddenly, wrapping her fingers around her brother's arm. "Because you have me, and Pecola, and Robita, and Professor Ochanomizu. That's your family."

Atom smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "… I know, Uran."

* * *

**Well… that was unexpectedly uneventful. I may continue with more chapters, but they probably won't be directly related to this one. I mean, there's only so much "fan continuity" I can think up with a oneshot plotline that consists entirely of "OTOUSAN DAISUKI". My original idea for this was supposed to be a chapter story of Uran feeling "left behind" by the resolute Atom, who chose to maintain a relationship (or as much of a relationship as you can have speaking to someone through a pane of Plexiglas surrounded by disgruntled policemen) with Tenma after the series ended. Uran was made by Ochanomizu, essentially in Atom's image, so she's kind of a direct representation of the "new life" he started after he was awakened in episode 1. She's pretty much the only one related entirely to Atom and Ochanomizu, but not Tenma, so… she's kind of out of the loop, and she knows it. It was going to begin with a dream (something cliché like her running after "Atomu-oniichan" and him leaving, holding Tenma's hand), and then have each chapter focus on a different scenario in which she was left out of some of Atom's business because Tenma was involved. If I do end up working on some of that, it'll probably just dissolve into a pointless story where Uran PMS-es all the time about the crazy genius sociopath who stole her brother from her. Meh.**


End file.
